Preston North End are the happy club who have secured a talented player in great form for a fraction of the price they would have had to stump up for other top League One goalscorers.

With Bodin not signing a new deal at Rovers despite over a year of negotiations, he was always destined to leave the club.

The question was simply whether that would be for a fee this month or on a free transfer after the season ended.

Billy Bodin has left to join Preston North End

As it's turned out, Bodin heads up to Lancashire just three days into the window and having kicked his last ball for Rovers on New Year's Day.

The early nature of his departure is both a curse and a blessing for Rovers. Obviously, the longer he remained with the club the more Rovers would have benefited from fielding such a high quality player. But this does at least give manager Darrell Clarke plenty of time to formulate his plans for a replacement.

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Billy Bodin leaves Bristol Rovers - reaction

There is still over a week until Rovers' next match and four weeks left in the window - plenty of time to recruit new players.

So what do Rovers lose by selling Bodin?

Billy Bodin scored 13 goals for Rovers this season

Well, they'll lose their best creative spark in attack. Bodin, despite being incessantly double marked this season, was Rovers' most creative player and could conjure a scoring opportunity from a seemingly impossible situation.

For anyone who has seen Bodin play in the last 12 months, it is no surprise he has ambitions to test himself at a higher level, and sadly after Rovers' first half of the season that was unlikely to be with the Gas in the short term future.

He had done more than enough to earn his move to both a higher standard, and of course, a pretty hefty rise in wages.

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That isn't a bad fee for a player who would have left on a free in the summer anyway. Rovers Chairman Steve Hamer spoke towards the end of last year and suggested that any money raised from the sale of players would be handed to Clarke to reinvest in the squad.

Darrell Clarke will now need to find a replacement for Bodin

That decision though rests in the hands of Wael Al-Qadi and the Rovers board.

Reaction from Gasheads to the news of Bodin's departure has been mixed. Few begrudge the player his move to a higher level given his performances in the blue and white quarters over the last year, but it does raise concerns about Rovers' transfer strategy.

Are they destined to settle in League One once again? Forced to sell their best players to Championship clubs then scour the lower league and non-league for cheap replacements.

But few will feel any ill feeling towards Bodin himself, a player who frequently lit up matches in recent months and can expect a warm reception if he ever returns to the Mem.

Sadly, Rovers' hands were tied on this one. Bodin clearly didn't want to sign a new deal, and the club have probably taken the best course of action available to them.

All eyes now turn to potential incomings at the Memorial Stadium and just who Clarke has lined up as a replacement for Bodin.